By Rohit Poddar
With new buildings burgeoning everywhere, there is a huge demand for new flats. And yet, most people opt for a resale home. However, taking a call on whether to invest in a new flat or a resale one may be difficult.
Typically, new or primary homes are the ones which are acquired directly from developers, and a resale or secondary homes are the properties that have had a previous owner. Is a newly built home right for you?
This type of question depends on lifestyle preferences, financing needs and the priorities you put on features like high energy efficiency, functional arrangements of interior living spaces and your desire, budget and aptitude when it comes to repairs and capital improvements.
There are few reasons which also might interest you to have a preference for a resale home even after you know that it needs some kind of renovation. For occurrence, you may have your heart set on moving to a definite locality in the city or a close-in suburb, where newly constructed houses are unusual or not available unless you buy an existing home, tear it down, and build a new home on the lot or you may be a do-it-yourself enthusiast and delight in the opportunity to take an old house and transform it, even if that takes considerable time and money.
So it is comprehensible that people prefer older homes but here are some advantages to buy a new home which can be a potential choice:
Affordability
Affordability is the major step to be considered by the home buyers. Potential property seekers may prefer resale homes thinking to pay less but they have to anticipate that there are various other amounts to be paid like registration fee, transfer fee, stamp charges, utility charges, etc. Also, resale homes require repair and maintenance, on the other hand, first-hand homes that are constructed in upcoming locations or suburbs will cost you lesser when compared to resale homes in established localities of a city.
Energy consuming/Green Buildings
Right from the concern of spending on huge electric bills or genuinely feeling about the environment, a new home is practically the better option. Homes built today must meet far tougher national code standards for energy efficiency than just a few years back. Most newly built homes, in fact, come with energy certifications covering walls, roofs, windows, doors and even appliance packages. Virtually, no resale homes offer certifications because they were built to much lower standards that were often decades ago when energy usage was an afterthought. To make an existing home efficiently energy saving property, that will cost you a lot. Whereas, new homes offer air filtration which increases indoor air quality, dropping the chances of affecting buyers who have asthma or allergies.
Fittings, Wiring and Flexibility of Space
A brand new home comes with already safe fittings and fixtures that assures a hassle-free solution for a long time whereas resale homes always have a problem of wiring and fittings. When you buy an old home, the design part is fixed but while buying a new home you can always guide and suggest designs to the developer when it is in its actual constructing stage.
Financing
While buying a resale property, the procedure is extremely long which includes a background check of the seller, title check and verification of documents, closure of home loan by the seller, registration of property in authority etc. When you buy a new home, your developer takes care of the whole process.
Resale Value
People think they will live in the same house forever but at some point they plan to sell it for innumerable reasons like expanding or decreasing it down their family, moving to other city or country, etc. Such factors will affect the 20 years older home than a 5-year-old home while reselling it.
The ultimate goal is to buy a home whether a new or an older one, the best decision can be made by potential home buyer only.
(The writer is Managing Director of Poddar’ housing and development Ltd)
